Use of medical devices intended to treat or diagnose conditions of the body can sometimes generate stress on the material or materials from which the devices are made. The material stress can alter the physical characteristics of the devices, making future performance of the devices unpredictable.
In addition, exposure to blood and tissue during use can entrap biological components on or within many medical devices. Despite cleaning and subsequent sterilization, the presence of entrapped biological components can lead to unacceptable pyrogenic reactions.
The effects of material stress and damage caused during a single use of a medical device, coupled with the possibility of pyrogen reactions even after resterilization, reasonably justify imposing a single use restriction upon many medical devices.